Cloth and paper napkins have been long in use to protect a diner from food and drink spills. These napkins are usually tucked under the chin or laid on the lap of the user. One problem associated with such napkins and their use is that they are not easily kept in place. They move or inadvertently fall to the floor often unnoticed by the user, and so offer no protection. Although these napkins may be pinned to the user, such pinning is inconvenient and is rarely used for others than infants.
Fine restaurant provide high quality cloth napkins, which suffer the above limitations, as they are not attachable to the user (not considering tucking it under the chin). These cloth napkins are economical since they can be washed and reused substantially eliminating the cost of the napkin. But, cloth napkins are rarely used outside of restaurants and/or formal dinners, since they offer little protection but entail overhead of washing and folding.
Bibs for children are known that have VELCRO, buttons, zippers, or snap attachments that are permanently attached or are part of the bib or napkin. These bibs are made of cloth and are usually wrapped and attached around the neck of the child. These bibs are washable and reusable for economical use. However, the permanent attachment means may be unwanted for other uses or at other occasions, and so may prevent the use of these bibs in other situations. Another limitation of these bibs is that the design of these bibs often precludes, from a practical view, use for an adult or an older child wanting a napkin laid on his or her lap.
Self adhering tabs permanently attached to disposable diapers are known, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,862,634 to Small, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,223 to Cronkrite. Moreover, self adhering laminates with peelable coverings and other such members are known. However, this prior art is not convenient nor applicable, nor is there any teaching or suggestion of changing and applying these inventions to napkins.
Other prior art napkins have been disclosed for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,009,831 to Yerzley, U.S. Pat. No. 2,803,574 to Fayant, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,398,438 and 3,398,439 both to L. Fried et al. However, in each of these patents the invention is the napkin itself with an attachment means adhered.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,902,734 to Walters is entitled a Napkin Fastening Means which is separable from the napkin. The Walter's fastener is a doubled over flexible strip which is relatively complex and expensive to produce, and in some instances inconvenient to use. The multiple folds enclose and protect the adhesive parts to prevent the fastener from sticking to itself or unwanted areas on the napkin or elsewhere, but the folds add to the complexity and cost. The fastener is fitted with two PULL and HOLD areas that do not participate in the adhesion of the fastener. These areas are for the convenience of the user to pull open the fastener, but these added areas also add to the size and the cost of the fastener. These areas are inherently visible when in use, and such visibility may be undesirable in practical applications where individual users may be sensitive to the obvious use to others of the fasteners. These limitations of the Walters fastener may provide an impediment to wide spread use of this fastener.
The folding of the strip of material in the Walters' fastener allows the adhesive areas to be exposed with no throw away material, and the fastener may be refolded back for future use. These are cited advances in the art and features of the Walters' fastener. But, as discussed above, these features add to the complexity and therefore the cost of Walters' fastener. These features also are structural differences compared to the present tab. The present tab is a flat, inexpensively manufactured structure which has a removable protective covering over the adhesive surface(s). The covering is totally removed and the tab is placed on the area to be protected and on the napkin. In cintrast to the Walters' fastener, the present invention has throw away coverings and may be worn entirely hidden or purposely exposed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a tab for holding a napkin that can be securely but removably placed virtually anywhere on the user's clothing.
It is another object of the present invention to provide for an inexpensive, easy to use tab for holding a napkin that encourages greater use of napkins.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a tab for attaching a napkin to a user where two separate adhesive areas are exposed independently for use. This allows the present invention to be conveniently used where the tab is attached to the user at one time, and at some quite later time attached to the napkin.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a tab that may be completely hidden from view when in use.
It is another object to provide a means for attaching a napkin or other shield made of cloth, paper, leather or virtually any material securely wherever a user may want it. A related object is the encouragement for greater use of cloth napkins outside of restaurants.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide means for restaurants and companies to provide an economical complimentary tab for napkins that will be used by the recipient since the napkins can be securely placed on the user ensuring the protection to the user.